Are Children the Casualties in this War between Educators and Big Money?

Are Children the Casualties in this War between Educators and Big Money?

This knock-down drag-out dirty fight is not benefitting the public or the disadvantaged communities that all groups claim concern. The latter is the justification for many old suggestions packaged deceptively in candy canes and sugar cones that would make one vomit incessantly.

Tea Party backers have moved to Education (my opinion). There is a proliferation of patriotic-named advocacy groups for parents and children that hide the unpatriotic intents of these groups funded by Big Money – similar to the Tea Party movement. Their names and practices are deceptive but successful in gaining the support of unsuspecting families and politicians, and most importantly, in making MONEY for Big Money Backers of these programs!

What do the Parent Trigger Bill or Parent Revolution Bill, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and The Heartland have in common? They share the same vision of making money and are funded by Big Money.

The Parent Trigger Bill was crafted by ALEC. Who is ALEC? ALEC is a select group of wealthy influential people who control our lives by shaping the politics in Washington DC. They are now busy shaping education by sleeping with our elected politicians and helping grease our politician’s wheels. ALEC is one of the organizations that justified the killing of Trayvon Martin in Florida.

This Trigger Bill, as well as changes to the Common Core Standards, appear to be the foundation of Educational Reform. I am disappointed because it means our country is headed down the toilet. On the other hand, many educator groups have not formed strong alliances with parents, creating definite mistrust between the groups. As a parent, I blame teachers because they are the ones I see as obstacles to my children getting the education they need. But teachers are really scapegoats, in many instances.

For the first time in many years, I am beginning to see creativity and innovation in public schools. Is this for show because of the current problems? I don’t know.

Education needs standards like any other business in this country. These standards should be national and tailored at the district level (this parent’s opinion). Let each district, with the inclusion of all parents who want to be involved, decide on their methods of evaluation. Of course, these methods have to be vetted. Coming from within the community will make these evaluations and programs more culturally acceptable than those forced on the community because of their “evidence-based nature”—evidence based on media myths about the community and other disadvantaged communities.

The only consistent evidence about many of these programs is the money made by big money!

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Author: Angela Grant

I am a first generation Jamaican immigrant whose experiences and accomplishments were made possible by the courage, sacrifices and the heroic acts of many whose bodies have rotted away in unmarked graves. Those are my heroes. Their sacrifices and death paved the way for my children and I. Failure to Listen is a token of my eternal gratitude. Failure to Listen is a tribute those generations of unmarked graves occupied by people of all races whose ultimate sacrifice of life opened the door for me and others, THANK YOU.
Failure to Listen https://failuretolisten.wordpress.com/ uses cultural lenses to appreciate and understand the relationships between current events and our values, beliefs and attitudes. Culture is everything without it we are nothing. Failure to Listen will take you on a journey to recognize the beauty of our differences as the seeds to creativity, innovation and resolving disparities.
By sharing my personal and professional experiences, I hope to do justice to the perspectives of those who are rarely heard or listened to. This site is not to incite anger but rather to provoke thought. It is my hope that Failure to Listen will work to foster intergroup dialogues and motivate readers to step outside the box and get to know ALL PEOPLE.
In the spirit of Martin Luther King, let's join hands and remember his famous speech about a dream...
A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. -Margaret Mead
View all posts by Angela Grant

Hallo. I’ve read a bunch of your posts, and noticed (can’t remember where) you’d recently almost given up blogging. I want to throw in my vote urging you not to. You always have your thumb on the real core of issues that are misrepresented, or are presented in such a way that the implications for those at the bottom of the ladder are not clear. I just think you haven’t found your community yet (not that you don’t have great readers!!)
There’s a pediatrician named M. Poinsett (Poinsetta?) whom I don’t know, so don’t quote me because I’m sure to have gotten something wrong. (We just exchanged a few tweets) Anyway, there’s this, like, loosely affiiated network of mostly Family Practice “docs” (as they say) who are into the same issues you are, stuff like race, poverty, environment and gun violence from a public health perspective – I mean, they tweet about the exact topics you blog about! I think the majority are African-American. And they’ve got some educators, nurse practitioners – they seem eager to exchange info and ideas wherever there’s a professional intersection. I couldn’t view it as you’ll be able to because I have a completely different professional background than you guys.
These are just my general impressions from skimming topics and threads a couple months ago. IPlease don’t hold me to any of it! But Mimi Poinsett (Poinsetta?) would be worth a tweet. She’s really something!
Sorry to babble on, and thanks again for your blog!

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